Where everything is bipartisan until it is not.
The television, radio, and digital advertising component of a political campaign, as opposed to ground-level organizing. Where campaigns burn through millions in 30-second spots hoping to convince swing voters while everyone else reaches for the mute button.
The legitimate right to command obedience, enforce rules, and generally tell people what to do—whether earned through expertise, position, or gunpower. The opposite of 'suggestions.'
To set aside, designate, or allocate funds or resources for a specific purpose, especially in government or institutional budgeting—the formal way to say 'we're officially spending money on this thing now.'
An assistant or support staff member, typically working directly for a high-ranking official or executive. Basically someone's right-hand person who handles everything so the boss can look important.
Deliberately not voting on a legislative measure, either for moral reasons or strategic advantage. Political cowardice dressed as principle.
To officially tweak, fix, or improve something—usually a document, law, or agreement. Amended means you're not scrapping the whole thing; you're just making it less broken than it was before.
The official end of a legislative session or meeting, either temporary recess or permanent end-of-session conclusion.
A court's authority to review and hear appeals from lower court decisions, allowing people to complain about unfavorable verdicts.
A system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination, implemented in South Africa from 1948-1994. Legalized racism in its most systematic form.
Divided into proportional portions according to a formula—particularly in government, where congressional seats get reapportioned after each Census based on population changes. It's why politicians obsess over population counts; your state's seat in Congress depends on it.
To refrain from voting on a measure—the cowardly middle ground that allows politicians to avoid going on record while pretending they didn't vote.
Historically, a Christian missionary; today, especially in the LDS Church, one of the twelve top church executives who set doctrine and policy. It's the ecclesiastical equivalent of being on a religion's board of directors, except your decisions are treated as divine law.
Opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England in the 19th century. Now used as a playful example of an absurdly long English word.
A person who opposes the established social, political, or religious order and its institutions, or the ideology supporting such opposition. The term encompasses those who reject the status quo and advocate for fundamental systemic change.
The decennial reallocation of House seats among states based on population, guaranteeing that rural states stay overrepresented.
The congressional committee that controls how much money each agency gets, making them vastly more powerful than policy committees.
A person who got the job not because of a resume but because someone with influence liked them enough to say so. Appointees are the folks who arrive at the agency on day one and spend their first week asking where the bathroom is.
The symbolic divide in legislatures between the parties, as if seating arrangements actually determine political ideology instead of the other way around.